Cherry Melomel Started

I admit, I am on a mead kick. Mead is extraordinarily easy to make, and gives you immense latitude for creativity. This weekend I started a cherry melomel. In the same manner as the zingimel, and the blackcurrant melomel before that, initially it is only a "base cyser", a mead of honey and apple juice. This will produce a relatively neutral mead, in that apple juice retains little appley-ness after a vigorous fermentation (much to the chagrin of cyser makers). In the secondary fermentation, when the yeast is about done, I will add the fruit. The yeast I used for the cherry mel is Lalvin 71B, the "Narbonne" yeast. It comes highly recommended for fruit mead, because it will neutralize acids in the must, resulting in a softer, hopefully sweeter mead. Depending on the final gravity of the mead when I rack it, I will be adding some extra honey...I want a fairly sweet mead from this. The cyser base for the zingimel is still fermenting, I'll give it another week to finish up.

I also tried the first bottle of the first mead I did, started in early August. It's a spiced cyser, and yes, it needs significantly more time aging. Hot and potent describe it quite well; its a raucous little beverage right now. Definite alcohol presence that might put off some tasters accustomed to tamer beverages, but I'll wager there's nary a Viking that'd turn down a flagon of this golden elixir, fiery or not. I bet it will be excellent for next year's Thanksgiving, however.